Leather-splitting machine.



J. H. GAY.l LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE. APPLIUATION FILED 1111.13. 1912.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

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J. H. GAY. LEATHER SPLITTING- MAGHINE. APPLICATION FILED 11111.13,11112.

1,038,561, 11116111011 sept. 17,1912.

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J. H. GAY. LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1912.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

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J. H. GAY.

LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13, 1912.

1,038,561 I Patented sept. 17,1912.

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JOSEPH H. GAY, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

Application filed January 13, 1912. Serial No. 671,022.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. GAY, a citizenof the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex andState of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Leather-Splitting Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

In U. S. Patent No. 718655, granted to W. D. Quigley and myself, January20, 1903, we have described a construction of drawing-in rolls andknife, which involves a certain described setting of the rolls, so thatan expanding clearance space is provided, in which space the knife maybe set at, or in close proximity to, the line of maximum compression ofthe hide between said rolls instead of at a distance therefrom. Wherethe hide after leaving the line of maximum compression has to `travelsome distance before it meets the knife edge, it is apt tol buckle orbecome displacedA from a true plane of movement, with the result that asmooth straight. cut is no longer made, but

rather a wavy one, so that each split instead of being of uniformthickness is of varying thickness, and hence not only is the workimpaired but the number of splits obtainj able from the hide is reduced,with consequent economical loss.

My present invention provides a means of accomplishing the same result.The usual drawing-in rolls are eliminated. In placel of the spring rolla plurality of presser" blocks is substituted, disposed in line side byside across the machine-each block having I a rounded lower surface oredge which may be struck on an are of much shorter radius than that ofthe ordinary spring roll. A web of canvas or other strongfabric-preferably endless and suitably driventravels under the loweredges of the blocks. The blocks themselves are resilientlysupported bysuitable springs, and are sufficient in number to permit ofself-adjustment to the natural variations in thickness of the hide. Inplace of the gage roll I provide a bar having its upper surface curvedcorrespondingly to the presser blocks above noted, said bar beingvertically adjustable. A traveling web passes over the edge of the lowerbar, and coacts with the web passing under the presser blocks to draw inthe hide to the By reasonof the short radius of edge curvature of theblocks and bar, the clearance space between-the same may be made of sucha predetermined width as will permit the knife edge to be brought soclose to the maximum'line of compression of the hide that theintervening distance between said line and said knife will bepractically nothing. I-Ience there is no chance for the hide to bucklebetween compression line and knife, and straight and uniform splits areproduced, not only from tanned hides, but

even from the much more flexible green hides. So that in fact I can withthis device split green hides before tanning them.

In thel accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of ahide splitting machine of the general type set forth in the aforesaidpatent, showing so much of said machine as is necessary clearly toillustrate my invention and its relation to the usual parts o f saidapparatus. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of said portion on the line m,a' of Fig; 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of said portion. Fig. 4 is apartial side elevation of the lower part of the machine, showing themeans for vertically adjusting the hide supporting bar. Fig. 5 is anenlarged sectional view showing the relation of the knife to the presserblocks, bar and traveling webs. Y

Similar numbers of reference indicate like parts.

At 1, 1 are shown the two end frames between which are supported theupper or truss frame2, and the supporting bar 3 for the hide. The endsof said bar are received between guides 4 on the frames l, and said baris' vertically adjustable in said guides by means of the screws 5, (Fig.4). Said screws are held in brackets 6 on the frames 1. Between saidbrackets are worm pinions 7, internally threaded to engage with thescrews 5. Said pinions are rotated by the worms 8 on shaft 9, operatedby hand wheel 10. Y.

At 11 is'the usual fixed work table over which the hide 12 passes to thedrawingin devices and knife 13. Said knife may be j a traveling band, asfully described in the aforesaid patent.

The truss frame 2 has at its ends projecting arms, one of which isshownfat 14,

which are supported upon similar 'arms 15, H

projecting from the end frames l, by the following means: 17 is acylindrical shell (Fig. 3) exteriorly threaded and received in arm 15,and interiorly threaded to receive the lower threaded portion of a rod18, which passes through arm 14, and above said arm has a collar 19 andoperating hand wheel 20. Between a flange 21 on shell 17 and arm 14 isinterposed an annular rubber lspring 22. On shell 17 is a lock nut 23.The initial resiliency of spring 22 is adjusted by rotating the shell17, (by means of a lever inserted in openings in the rim of flange 21)so as to move said shell vertically in arm 15, and after such adjustmentthe shell is secured in position by the lock nut 23, rotated by similarmeans. By turning the hand wheel 20, the truss frame 2 is raised orlowered, the rubber spring 22 then expanding or becoming compressed, asthe case may be.

The truss frame 2 is provided at its lower edge with a recess, of whicha removable bar 24, secured in, place by bolts 40, forms one wall. Insaid recess are placed sideby side a number of steel blocks 25. 'Ihe under face 26 of each block is inclined, and the corners are rounded. Thebody of the block fits the recess in the frame and the recess is made ofsufficient length to permit said block to be adjusted upwardly ordownwardly therein. In order to effect this ver- V tical adjustment ofthe blocks in the truss frame, each block is provided with an operatingrod 27, which extends upward through frame member 28, and carries afixed collar 29. A helical spring v30 bears on said collar and upona'loose bar 31. There are a number of bars 31, eachreceiving two rods27, the upper ends of said rods passing through the uppermost Vframemember 32. In member 32 are adjusting'screws 33, bearing on each of thebars 31, between the pair of rods 27 which pass through said bar.

Journaled on the end frames 1 and respectively disposed onopposite sidesof truss frame 2, are rolls 34, 35. Passing over said rolls and over anidler roll 36 on the top frame member 32 and under blocks 25, is apreferably endless web or belt 37 of suitably Strongfabric or material.f The shaft 38 of roll 34 extends beyond the end frame 1 and carries adriving pulley 39, byrmeans of which said roll is rotated and the webcaused to travel under blocks 25 in the direction of the arrow a, Fig.5. Also journaled in the end frames l are two rolls 41 and 42. Anendless web 43 passes `over these rolls and above the top face 2GX ofbar 3. Said face is of a shape conforming to that of the lowerl faces ofthe blocks 25, except that'it is'cf opposite inclination. The web 43 iscaused y to travel by means of the chain 'belt- 44 which passes over asprocket pulley 45 on shaft 33 of upper roll 34 and over a sprocketpulley 46 on the shaft 47 of roll 41. The web 43 is in this way drivenin the direction of the arrow b, Fig. 5.

'Ihe hide being placed rin the usual way upon the table 11 is advanceduntil gripped between the webs 37 and 43, and is thus drawn in betweenblocks 25 and bar 3 and presented edgewise to the knife 13, whereby itis split, as indicated in Fig.. 5.

Particular attention is no-w called to the following: If two rotatingrolls are placed one above t-he other, with their longitudinal centralaxis in the same vertical plane, then the line of maximum compression(line c, c, in Fig. 5) of the hide drawn in between them is in saidplane. The clearance space between the roll peripheries on thedeliveryside of the compression line (right hand side o-f Fig. 5) willenlarge proportionately to the radius of curvature of either.roll or ofboth. Into this clearance space the splitting knife enters. Hence if,because of large curvature radius, the clearance space expands only verygradually for a considerable distance from the line ofcompression, itmay not afford sufficient room to permit the knife to be brought intothe desired proximity to that line.` If, on the other hand, the springor Lipper roll be reduced in radius so as to provide for more rapidexpansion .of the clearance spacel in order to allow more room for theapproximation of the knife to the compression line, then the roll itselfmay become so attenuated as to be liable to Vdistortion 4or bending.lVhen, however, a stationary device and traveling webs, as hereindescribed, are substituted for the drawing-in rolls, the difliculty isobviated, since the curvature of the corners 43 of the blocks 25 andcorner 49 of bar 3 may be made of any s hort radius to give thenecessary clearance to permit the knife to be brought close to thecompression line 0,10, Fig. 5, without impairing in any Wise therigidity of blocks and bar.- A Y i By reason of the large area of theopposing faces of blocks 25 and Vbar 3, correspondingly large areas ofthe traveling webs are held in contact with the hide, so that a .verypowerful drawing in grip is obtained. rlhe inclination of the facesproduces also a spacebetween them which becomes less as the line c, c ofmaximum compression is approached, thus subjecting the hide to gradualconsolidation and causing it to be rigidly grasped at the moment ofsplitting.

In another application for Letters Patent,

filed simultaneously herewith, Serial No. 671,021, I have described andclaimed the combination of a moving support, a moving web, and meansacting upon said web for establishing aline of maximum compression ofsaid hide between said web and said support; and also the constructionandarrangement of the presser vblocks 25, vand means for adjusting thesame, all substantially as herein set forth. The subject-matter of saidapplication is, therefore, not herein claimed. A

I claim:

l. A hide-splitting machine, comprising a splitting blade, two movingwebs, and members having plane faces bearing on said websto hold thesame respectively in contact with opposite sides of the hide: the saidmembers adjacent to said faces being rounded to produce a clearance ofsuflicient width to permit of the adjustment of said blade in closeproximity to the line of maximum compression of said hide.

2. A hide-splitting machine, comprising a splitting blade, two movingwebs, and members having oppositelyinclined plane faces hearing on saidwebs to hold the same respectively in contact with opposite sides of thehide: the said members adj acent'to said faces being rounded to producea clearance of sufficient width to permit of the adjustment of saidblade in close proximity to the line of maximum compression of saidhide. In` testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

JOSEPH H. GAY. Witnesses:

GERTRUDE T. PORTER, MAY T. MCGARRY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing'the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

